Regional Variability in Stable Isotope Food-Web Baselines and Sex-Based Differences in Diet: An Example from Early Agriculturists in Southeastern Utah

Summary

This paper provides an isotope-ecology context for Cedar Mesa, Utah by presenting isotope data on over 400 modern botanical and archaeo-faunal specimens from the area. While carbon data fit with regional expectations, nitrogen isotope ratios throughout the Cedar Mesa food-web show depletion in 15N relative to other ecosystems in the intermountain west--consistent with nitrogen inputs from cyptobiotic soil crusts. In light of this localized isotope baseline, we reassess previously published isotope studies of Basketmaker II (BMII) burials by comparing modeled whole-diet isotope ratios with the feasible diet polygon (e.g. convex hull) defined by local resources. Implications for translating sex-based differences in BMII bone chemistry into engendered subsistence strategies are also discussed.